Nurses Hall

(Second Floor)

Major General William Francis Bartlett was a hero to both the North
and the South. Named a general at the age of twenty-four, he was wounded
four times and lost his left leg in the battle of Yorktown, but continued
to lead his troops. After the war, he was asked by both Virginia and Massachusetts
to run for office. He refused both offers, and died at the age of thirty-six.

Climbing the stairs at the end of Doric Hall you will leave the 1798
Bulfinch Front and enter the 1895 Brigham addition to the State House.
The small hall you have entered contains a Daniel Chester French bronze
statue of the Massachusetts Civil War hero, William Francis Bartlett.

The next, larger room, built largely of Pavonazzo marble, is called Nurses'
Hall because of the statue of an Army war nurse located on your right.
Sculpted in 1914 by Bela Pratt, it was the first statue erected in honor
of the women of the North after the Civil War.

Nurses' Hall also features several murals by Robert Reid depicting events
crucial to the start of the American Revolution. Paul Revere's ride of
April 19, 1775 is on the left, the Boston Tea Party is on the right. The
central panel portrays the true beginning of the colonists' break with
England. Fiery orator James Otis is pictured arguing against the Writs
of Assistance, which allowed British soldiers to enter private homes and
shops in search of smuggled goods. Refusing payment from the Boston merchants
who retained him, Otis presented his case in February 1761. Although he
did not win the case, Otis was described by John Adams as "a flame
of fire... then and there the child Independence was born".

William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts